One

Monday, June 24, 2013

Today on Jamie Tremain
we are very pleased to speak to D.J. McIntosh (Dorothy), who has recently
launched the sequel to ‘The Witch of Babylon’ in her Mesopotamian trilogy The
Book of Stolen Tales.

New York art
dealer John Madison purchases at auction a rare seventeenth century Italian book of fairy
tales. Before he could deliver the book to his anonymous client he is robbed by
a man claiming to be the author.

So begins his journey to find the book. He travels from
London to Naples encountering many obstacles along the way. Immersed in the
strange world of European aristocracy and rare book collectors he ends up in
Iraq where the dark origins of familiar fairy tales appear to come alive around
him.

Pam: Thanks for
being here Dorothy. I don’t want to give too much away. I hate spoilers.

‘Published in more than 20 countries.’ Numerous awards including the
Arthur Ellis award for best unpublished crime novel and a Globe and Mail national bestseller.

How hard was it to
keep up the momentum of that success or had you started writing book number two
before you published the first?

Dorothy:

I hadn’t begun The Book of Stolen Tales when The Witch was published, and while it took me eight years (on and off) to write The Witch, I had only one and half years to complete the second novel. With all the promotion requirements for the first one, including its publication in a number of countries, writing the second one was a tough haul. I especially find first drafts excruciating. Once over the first draft hump, I love the editing process. All that said, I loved writing parts of Stolen Tales and think it’s a better book than the first. I hope readers agree.

Pam:
It’s obvious from the content of these books that a
tremendous amount of research went into the writing.

What is your writing process?
Are you very disciplined?

Dorothy:

I am
the most undisciplined person I know! As a result, for the last year or so,
I’ve done very little besides writing Book Two and promoting Book One.

Pam: You live in the big city of Toronto with all its distractions; but in summer, for four months you take off to your cottage to my favourite part of the province, Lake Huron. Where do you get the most work done? Deckchair and sunsets, or the atmosphere and noise of the concrete jungle?

Dorothy:

I seem to get much more done at the cottage for kind of a funny reason. I don’t drive. That means it takes a lot more effort to indulge in the distractions of going into town. I have a long bike ride or have to call a taxi. I love sitting out for hours on end on my back deck writing late into the night. A few days ago however, I looked out my window to see a bear on my back deck so I’m now wondering if late night writing outside is still a good idea! Right now I’m typing the answers on my laptop at my usual seat on the back deck keeping one eye out for you know who. Sure is suspenseful anyway.

Pam: I like your
protagonist John Madison. A reviewer called him rakish and with a past. I can
handle rakish and we all like a bit of a bad boy. I know who I would cast if they made a movie. Is this something you do
when you visualize your characters? Does it help to have a picture in mind when
creating the people you will be spending a great deal of your time?

Dorothy:

Oh yes,
always have the visual in mind, for characters, scenes, settings, for
everything. John just flipped into my mind one day when I was first starting to
think about writing The Witch. And his face was immediately clear. He’s of
Turkish origin, dark hair and eyes, olive skin and has a smart looking close
cut beard. But he doesn’t resemble any particular movie star I know.

Pam: You have
picked a very volatile place to set your books. Did you choose Iraq as a
destination with your interest in Mesopotamia or did your story evolve from
that curiosity?

Dorothy:

My starting point was the Book of Genesis, and I quickly learned many of those stories were based on much earlier Mesopotamian myths. So I began to study Mesopotamian culture and history and fell in love with it. At the same time, the Iraq war broke out including the looting of the Iraq Museum and I was transfixed (and horrified) watching all this on television. It seemed that history had come full circle. Who would have imagined the sacking and burning of Mesopotamian cities in the 21st century? So I guess you could
say, it was a bit of both.

Pam: I enjoy the
detail you placed in John Madison’s travels. Did you visit all the countries
and cities portrayed in your books? Is it necessary to do so to write about
them?

Dorothy:

It
is necessary although not always possible. Iraq was (and still is) too
dangerous to visit. For Book two, I travelled to London and Naples and don’t
think I could have written the book without being there.

Pam: Which author
has the greatest influence in your own writing and who is a favourite?

Dorothy:

Cormac
McCarthy is my absolutely top favourite followed closely by Lawrence Durrell.
Of course there are many others. McCarthy`s writing although of a very
different subject matter, is so stunningly lyrical and beautiful. I think his Border
Trilogy is the best 20th century literary work I`ve ever read. I
like Canadian writer Rawi Hage very much too.

Pam:
Writing
with my collaborator Liz is something both of us enjoy. Its not for everyone.
Is this something you would ever consider?

Dorothy:

It
takes a special talent to work with someone else and I applaud you both. Sure,
I`d consider it, for the right project.

Pam: You managed
to sidestep the tedious query and rejection letters that most authors deal
with. Tell us how that came about?

Dorothy:

I entered the first 3000 words of my m.s. to the Debut Dagger competition (Crime Writers Association UK) for unpublished writers and was shortlisted. From there, several literary agents approached me and I began to work with one. Once we felt the book was ready we sold the trilogy to penguin Canada. I`ll be forever grateful to the Crime Writers Association for saving me from those slush piles.

Thanks
Dorothy for spending the time with us today. We wish you much continued success
with your Trilogy and look forward to book #3 in 2015.

Thank
you both so very much; I really enjoyed your questions.............Dorothy

D.J. McIntosh'sThe Witch of Babylonhas been sold in twenty countries, was
shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award, and won a
Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award for best unpublished novel. It was a
national bestseller, an Amazon.ca Best Book, and was named one of CNN's Most
Enduring Historical Thrillers. McIntosh is a member of the Canadian Society for
Mesopotamian Studies. She is a strong supporter of Reporters Without Borders
and the Committee to Protect Journalists. She lives in Toronto.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

That’s what little boys are made of…or so the old nursery
rhyme goes. Sugar and spice and
everything nice, of course, is for little girls. Now, I have a precious granddaughter who just turned eight years old this month and I think somewhere
between those two descriptions is where her character lies. She loves to dress up as a princess and have
her toenails painted, but then again….

Take yesterday – my son sends me an attachment from his cell
phone. Just the attachment, no note or
explanation. What do I open up? Not a cute photo, or clever quotation. Nope, this would be an x-ray. Of a dog?
Is it a joke? What the
heck? Quickly requesting clarification,
his response arrived - Oh yeah..that? That would be an x-ray of his daughter’s
stomach from the night before, when she swallowed a screw. WHAT?

He didn't know how or why she did that, but suggested that
if I hadn't already purchased a birthday gift for her, perhaps a screw driver
would be appropriate.

Fortunately the surgeon decided to let nature take its course and no surgery would be required. I replied that at
today’s birthday party maybe we could start a pool and take bets on when the ill-fated screw will make an appearance. Have to
love family get togethers – why be ordinary?

On the writing front, we’ve sent out a handful of queries
this past week…would love to be able send more but time and work commitments just
don’t allow for much more right now. And
we’re both mulling over ideas about our next project. A rough idea of a story line for a second
adventure for Dorothy and Paul, or something completely different.

Gardening until almost dark last evening and finally the
back patio is beginning to look like a garden.
A few finishing touches remain and then it will be lovely to have an
outdoor spot to read and contemplate future ideas - or just life in general.

But for now, laundry and other mundane chores await and then
later this afternoon will enjoy time spent with family to celebrate my
granddaughter and my daughter’s birthday, who share the month of June. No wonder it’s one of my favourite months of
the year. Much loved family members and
two of my best friends also are June babies.
Birthday wishes to Makenna, Christine, Rebecca and Cheryl.